1 Samuel 13:15

13:15 Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal ¹  to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. ²  Saul mustered the army that remained with him; there were about six hundred men.

1 Samuel 20:25

20:25 The king sat down in his usual place by the wall, with Jonathan opposite him ³  and Abner at his side. ⁴  But David’s place was vacant.

1 Samuel 21:10

21:10 So on that day David arose and fled from Saul. He went to King Achish of Gath.

1 Samuel 25:1

The Death of Samuel

25:1 Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the desert of Paran. ⁵ 

1 Samuel 26:2

26:2 So Saul arose and

went down to the desert of Ziph, accompanied by three thousand select men of Israel, to look for David in the desert of Ziph.

1 Samuel 27:2

27:2 So David left and crossed over to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath accompanied by his six hundred men.

1 Samuel 28:23

28:23 But he refused, saying, “I won’t eat!” Both his servants and the woman urged ⁶  him to eat, so he gave in. ⁷  He got up from the ground and sat down on the bed.

¹ tc The LXX and two Old Latin mss include the following words here: “on his way. And the rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the warring army. When they arrived from Gilgal….”

² tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in the following verse).

³ tc Heb “and Jonathan arose.” Instead of MT’s וַיָּקָם (vayyaqam, “and he arose”; from the hollow verbal root קוּם, qum), the translation assumes a reading וַיִּקַדֵּם (vayyiqaddem, “and he was in front of”; from the verbal root קדם, qdm). See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 338.

⁴ tn Heb “and Abner sat at the side of Saul.”

⁵ tc The LXX reads “Maon” here instead of “Paran,” perhaps because the following account of Nabal is said to be in Maon (v. 2). This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT). The MT, however, reads “Paran,” a location which would parallel this portion of David’s life with that of the nation Israel which also spent time in Paran (Num 10:12). Also, the desert of Paran was on the southern border of Judah’s territory and would be the most isolated location for hiding from Saul.

⁷ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וַיִּפְצְרוּ (vayyiftseru, “and they pressed”; from the root פצר, psr) rather than the MT’s וַיִּפְרְצוּ (vayyifretsu, “and they broke forth”; from the root פרצ, prs).

⁸ tn Heb “he listened to their voice.”